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My first time at this Air Show and I went with the intention of not specifically concentrating on the aircraft. Seems a bit silly when you think about it – Airshows are all about aircraft. But when you’ve only got an 150mm lens you aren’t going to fill the frame with that thundering jet as they fly past you.

For those of you who don’t know, Llandudno is a seaside town with a wide bay enclosed at either end with two rather large hills, the Great and Little Orme’s.

In the town you will find a mix of all types of shops, department stores, cafes, cake shops pubs and of course tourist shops

The Rock I’m talking about here is not a stone or anything like that. It’s a traditional sweet candy stick, usually pink on the outside, white inside with the name of the town running right through the entire length. Originally it had a minty flavour but over time it has been developed and now comes in all types of shapes, colours and flavours.

Although it was still early the crowds were starting to gather on the seafront for what was promising to be a good display, coupled with entertainment along the seafront and in the bandstand.

The airshow was just beginning to start with the first display inbound over the Little Orme

A nice slow start to the show with a pair of Bucker Jungman Bi-Planes allowing the photographers to get some practice in, zooming, panning and using our rapid fire shutters, before the fast boys put in an appearance.

Next up was a BAC Strikemaster which is a British jet-powered training and light attack aircraft.

Like I said earlier I can’t fill the frame with the aircraft as I don’t have a big enough lens but I hope you can see it enough to appreciate it’s size. It really is small and with the Little Orme behind looks rather delicate

Unlike the Rhyl Air Show which I usually attend Llandudno has music performances on the seafront as well.

Helen Wyn Pari is a well-known harpist and she gave us a really good performance in between some of the flying displays.

Meanwhile on the beach a photographer was getting ready for the next display

Which happened to be a Catalina decked out in the livery of the US Air Force

Great plane and the pilot really gave us a brilliant display, even changing his flight path at one point so that the photographers amongst the crowd could get a top shot.

Can you spot that lone photographer up there on the Little Orme? I hope he got a good photograph of the Avro Anson as it flew over him on it’s way to start it’s display.

Back on the seafront the Siren Sisters had started their musical performance

Now this I really liked. The girls are so photogenic, better still the music is my style and I could have listened to them all day. Judge for yourself.

Back to the airshow though. There were some extra displays including the Red Arrows but unfortunately I had to leave early to catch a train. so I couldn’t stay to watch.

Oh! I almost forgot. I like Jazz as well so it was a surprise to see a Jazz Band performing as well

What an interesting subject for this weeks challenge theme. Having a rich industrial past, North Wales has lots of broken things just lying around. You see them in the old slate quarries, long since abandoned, along the side of rivers, way out in the country where the only residents now are sheep and the occasional mad photographer who happens to pass by.

Porth Wen Brickworks is typical. Situated on Anglesey, it’s still considered Private Property, but it’s been photographed often enough by intrepid photographers. Getting to Porth Wen is not the easiest task. For a start it’s not signposted and the path down the side of the cliff goes through some really rough vegetation. On site you have to be careful where you put your feet. you can see that from the photograph. But if you’re like me, fascinated by old buildings then it’s a photographers dream.

Minera lead mines ceased work around 1914 and is now part of a country park near Wrexham. The first records of lead mining at Minera date back to 1296 and over the centuries there were intermittent attempts to remove lead from the workings. Some successful, some not. The final decline of Minera was caused by the price of lead and zinc falling, whilst coal, used by the steam engine to pump water from the working, had risen. By 1909 the engine had stopped working and in 1914 the owners of Minera sold off the mines and it’s assets.

Near the base of Snowdon and on the shores of Llyn Lydaw lies the ruined crushing mill of the now defunct Britannia Copper Mine. Never really a successful enterprise, seven companies tried their luck in just over a hundred years, the mine closed in 1916.

You can always tell when you are near a copper mine. The rusty-red colour of the stones is a sure giveaway.

What do you think? Am I showing enough photographs this week?

Talking of copper. On the island of Anglesey is a really good walking, and of course photography area, called Copper Mountain.

Mining started here about 3500 years ago in what is known as the Bronze Age. But it was the industrial mining of the 18th and more particularly the 19th century to make Parys mountain as it is also known the largest copper mine in the world, in its time.

By the way, that tower you see on the hill is the one in the photograph above. It contained an engine to pump the water out of the lower workings of the mine.

We’ve had brick, lead, zinc, and copper. Next up is slate and where better to show old industrial broken things than Dinorwic Slate Quarry in Snowdonia. At it’s height it was the second largest slate quarry in the world, second only to another quarry just over the hill.

Dinowic is a great place to wander round and relatively safe if you stick to the marked paths.

It’s when you start to wander that you need to take more precautions. There are some really dangerous areas in the quarry, sheer drops, deep lakes, risk of falling stones.

This tunnel goes right through the mountain and is used by many who visit Dinorwic to get to some of the upper levels. But you need a torch “to see the light at the end of the tunnel”, if you’ll excuse the pun.

Experts recommend a blog post should be no more than 250 words too maintain interest, I’m nearly double that now. Hopefully the photographs help to maintain interest?

One more place I’d like to show you. Not far from the lighthouse at Talacre is the now disused Point of Ayr Colliery, which closed on the 23rd August 1996. . The coal field extended northwards under the Irish Sea. Nothing now remains of the colliery, not even a memorial plaque. Well, not quite, these tracks, which were a siding of the Holyhead to London Rail line, are all that is left on the site…and they really belonged to the rail company.

In the background you can see the gas plant where natural gas from the Celtic gas-fields comes ashore to be processed for use in the power station at Connah’s Quay, further up the coast.

There you have it, I’ve covered brick making, lead and zinc extraction, copper mining, slate quarrying and finally coal mining. All broken industries.

Please take some time to see what others are writing about this weeks challenge

I’ve been away all week on a short vacation. As always I choose places where I’m not tempted by t’internet. Sometimes it’s nice to get away from it all but the downside is the massive amount of emails I have to respond to when I get home.

So this weeks challenge is Enveloped. I hope you will agree with me that the photo I’ve submitted fulfils the challenge.

Taken in the National Memorial Arboretum, this is one of the walls honouring those who have served, and continue to serve, our nation here in the UK.

Covering 150 acre, with over 50,000 trees planted and more than 300 dedicated memorials serve to make the Arboretum a living tribute acknowledging the personal sacrifices made by the Armed Forces and civil services of the United Kingdom.

But it’s not just for our military. There are memorials dedicated to the Police, Fire and Rescue as well as Ambulance Services.

Also included are National Charities representing people, including children, who have died in particular circumstances.

Have a look at what others are writing about for the Weekly Photo Challenge

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Minimalism, always subjective and highly controversial. There are those who hat in and conversely those who love it.

But that’s what the challenge is this week and here’s how I’ve interpreted it.

Rightly or wrongly this is how I see minimalism. I purposely kept the photograph in Black and White. I like it that way.

We are allowed to submit two photographs, although only one can be submitted for judging. My final photograph is also a Black and White but with a touch of High Key as well.

Now you might have also noticed that I haven’t followed one of the more conventional aspect ratios for these two photographs. That’s because I didn’t think either of them would benefit from that setting. What do you think? Was I right to go for a more square look?